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How to Submit a Sample

Specimen Requirements

Testing on Peripheral Blood and Bone Marrow

Peripheral blood and bone marrow aspirate samples collected in purple-topped tubes (sodium EDTA anticoagulant) should be shipped to the laboratory promptly on wet ice by overnight courier. In general, 10-30 ml of peripheral blood is needed and 2-5 ml of marrow aspirate. However, please see the summary of individual tests for specific details on material required. For certain tests, it is also possible to submit cDNA, genomic DNA and/or RNA directly for testing. These should be shipped on dry ice for optimal preservation. Delayed shipment of the specimen may compromise the quality of the RNA required for testing. All Peripheral Blood specimens must be accompanied with a CBC. All Bone Marrow Specimens must be accompanied with a BM Differential or pathology report.

Do not freeze whole blood or bone marrow before sending.

Testing on Solid Tumor/Frozen Tissue Specimens

Lymph node, skin or other tissue biopsies may be utilized as a source of DNA for molecular assay. Each should be obtained in a sterile manner and transported frozen to preserve DNA integrity. For most assays, including tumor-specific gene rearrangements and bone marrow engraftment studies, 30-50 mg of tissue generally is sufficient.

Molecular orders placed in the context of pathologic consultation may or may not be processed, depending on the discretion of the MD Anderson pathologist. All molecular tests ordered by outside facilities should be ordered directly to the Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory.

Testing on Paraffin-Embedded Tumor Tissues

For DNA testing, we can utilize either paraffin rolls from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue or sections prepared on glass slides with the areas to be analyzed indicated. For cases requiring extraction from paraffin material. Submit one H&E stained slide and 4-10 unstained slides depending on the amount of tumor tissue present. For 0.4 uM thick tissue sections of at least 0.5 cm2 area, submit 4 slides. For smaller tissue sections, submit up to 10 slides. Microsatellite instability and some LOH testing require tissues from both normal (uninvolved) and tumor samples from the same patient.